The Podesta Group was a

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

and public affairs firm based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It was founded in 1988 by brothers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and

Tony Podesta Anthony Thomas Podesta (born October 24, 1943) is an American lobbyist best known for founding the Podesta Group. The brother of former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, he was formerly one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists and fund ...

and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993, and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30, 2017, after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm. It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon. Podesta Group, which represented American corporations as well as

nonprofits A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s, was said in 2011 to have "close ties to the Democratic Party and the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

", although its CEO, Kimberley Fritts, is identified in her Cogent Strategies bio as "a fixture in Republican politics". She resigned and established her own firm, Cogent Strategies, in November 2017. The firm reported earning

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

27.4 million in lobbying fees in 2011. In 2007, Chairman Tony Podesta was ranked by his peers as the third most influential lobbyist in Washington. On November 9, 2017, CEO Kimberley Fritts informed all employees that the Podesta Group would cease to exist at the end of the year. Employees were asked to clear out their desks and told that they might not be paid beyond November 15. On November 21, Podesta Group's website went offline, redirecting to the personal website of Tony Podesta, with the majority of the Podesta Group’s former principals having joined Cogent Strategies.

Lobbying and public affairs activities

The Podesta Group acted as a lobbyist for Egypt on United States policies of concern, activities in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

, and developments on the U.S. political scene generally, according to forms filed with the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 2009. They received $900,000 in revenue in 2011–2012 from the

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

-based European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU), a group sympathetic to then Ukraine president

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

and his

Party of Regions A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

. As of October 2017, the Podesta Group was reported to be under investigation by Special Counsel

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served a ...

for potentially violating the

Foreign Agents Registration Act The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ( ''et seq.'') is a United States law that imposes Public disclosure of private facts, public disclosure obligations on Foreign agent, persons representing foreign interests.

in the course of its work for the ECMU. The Podesta Group was one of six lobbying firms that participated in a 2012–2014 public relations campaign organized by

Paul Manafort Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American former lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafo ...

on behalf of the ECMU and Ukraine's pro-Russian

; the campaign was reportedly designed with the stated goal of improving Ukraine's standing among Western audiences as a possible prelude to Ukrainian membership in the European Union. A Podesta Group spokesman denied any wrongdoing. On October 30, 2017, a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

unsealed the indictment of Manafort and his deputy Richard Gates. According to NBC News, the Podesta Group is mentioned in the indictment as one of the companies that lobbied on behalf of the Ukrainian government for Manafort and Gates. On that day, Tony Podesta stepped down as head of the Podesta Group. As of May 2019, the Podesta Group, along with Mercury Public Affairs and

Skadden Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (known as Skadden) is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm comprises approximately 1,700 lawyers and is the fourth highest grossing law firm in the U ...

, has been under investigation for possible

violations regarding former Trump campaign chairman

by the

Southern District of New York The Southern District of New York is a federal judicial district that encompasses the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Federal offices or agencies operating in the distri ...

. The Podesta Group also represented (as of 2016) the interests of Russia's largest financial institution,

Sberbank of Russia The Public JSC Sberbank (, initially a contraction of ) is a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services company headquartered in Moscow. As the Russian successor entity of the State Labor Savings Banks System of the USSR, it was ...

, which controls approximately 30 percent of Russian banking assets. The Podesta Group also carried out public relations work for the

government of Azerbaijan The politics of Azerbaijan take place in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian system where elections are not free and fair, political opponents are repressed, civil rights are limited, human rights in Azerbaijan, human rights abuses are widespread ...

for a monthly fee of $60,000 plus expenses. Between 2009 and 2017, the Podesta Group represented more than two dozen sovereign governments. According to FARA filings at the US Justice Department, the company represented Afghanistan, Vietnam, Switzerland, Georgia, India, Iraq, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus, among others. In addition, the Podesta Group has been retained by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, BP, and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

. Other clients include

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

, the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

(casinos),

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and the

Republic of Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. K ...

References

External links

* {{Official website
archived link
1988 establishments in Washington, D.C. Marketing companies established in 1988 Lobbying firms based in Washington, D.C. Privately held companies based in Washington, D.C. 2017 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. John Podesta

Lobbying and public affairs activities

See also

References

Further reading

External links